'Mesopotamia' [‎45v] (90/152)

80
ECONOMIC CONDTTTONS [No. 02
wheat is grown there in larger quantities, and there is
a considerable traffic in grain down-stream from
Birijik.
In Irak the wheat crop is of less importance than
dates, rice, and barley, and consequently suffers from
a certain amount of neglect, but wheat and barley are
sown on the banks of the rivers and canals where the
ground is dry enough to admit of sowing before the
rain comes, and is clear of floods before harvest-time
in April and May. There are grain stores at many
places on the Tigris and Euphrates, but these, as a
general rule, do not adequately protect the grain stored
in them against the weather.
Mesopotamia!! wheat is red, and of a hard quality ;
only small quantities are exported, as it is almost all
converted into flour and consumed in the country. The
barley is generally of excellent quality, and if properly
cleaned would command the best prices in the markets
of the world. Before the war the trade in grain from
Mesopotamia suffered from the insufficiency of internal
transport, and the consequent deterioration of the
grain before shipment, and also from the custom of
deliberately mixing dirt with the grain in order to in
crease the weight, a practice which rendered Mesopo-
tamian grain unpopular in the market.
Other cereals are maize, millet, and sesame, which
belong mostly to Irak, and are grown almost entirely
for home consumption, though there is some export of
millet and sesame.
Flour milling of a primitive kind is carried on all
over Mesopotamia, wherever corn is grown. In Bagh
dad there are over 100 mills, and Mosul boasts more
than 300. The only modern mill is that at Baghdad,
recently owned by tKe Turkish Government.
Two kinds of cotton are at present grown, one from
native seed and the other from Bombay seed. The
latter is of much better quality, but does not easily
work off the native carding instrument, and is there
fore little grown. Egyptian seed has given good results,
but is not popular commercially.